Laser cutting systems have been devised and are utilized in many industries. For example, in the auto industry a laser cutting system is used to cut the edging on a bumper that is formed using a mold, stamping press, or other forming tool.
Once formed, the bumper is removed from the mold, press, etc., but often includes some extra material around the edges from the mold formation process. A laser cutting system can be used to remove this extra material from the bumper. Accordingly, the laser cuts the material off and the edge of the part is polished through hand polishing, or other such manners, to remove any sharp portions and generally smooth the edge.
In some other implementations, an item is formed on a mold and a laser is used to cut the item off of the mold. Alternatively, an item is formed on a mold by stamping or another forming process and the item is positioned using a support of some kind. If the item has been molded, the mold may be used as the support. However, cutting into the support material can be detrimental to the process. For instance, the support material, when cut with the laser, may mix with the material used to form the item. This can cause unintended material physical characteristics or discoloration, which may not be desirable.
The cutting process itself can also change the characteristics of the material near the cut path. Unlike other cutting techniques, laser cutting generates enough heat to cut the material and, as such, the material's interaction with the heat can change its characteristics, for example, making it more brittle which can be undesirable in some applications. This can be particularly true where the cut is to be made at relatively high speed and therefore a high energy laser beam is used to cut through the material quickly.
Additionally, the thickness of the material being cut can change in some implementations and as such, the effectiveness of the cutting technique can be reduced. For example, if a portion of the material being cut is thicker than a portion used to calibrate the laser for most effective cutting, the laser may not cut all the way through the material or the material may not be vaporized as effectively.
If the material is thinner, the characteristics of the edge of the cut material may be changed in an unintended manner. The laser may also cut through the item being cut and into the support material which may be undesirable in some applications as discussed above.